Ava Ziegler achieved what many call the most remarkable victory by a U.S. figure skater in Grand Prix Series history on Saturday.
Ziegler, a 17-year-old from New Jersey, soared from fifth place after Friday’s short program to clinch the free skate win and the title at the NHK Trophy in Japan. She edged out her compatriot Lindsay Thorngren by a mere 1.77 points.
Thorngren, who led in the short program, went over time in both of her programs, resulting in a total deduction of two points that ultimately proved to be the deciding factor in the competition.
Notably, Ziegler, who finished ninth in her senior U.S. Championships debut last January, set a new U.S. women’s record for the quickest ascent to a Grand Prix title, achieving the feat in just her second Grand Prix start.
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Ziegler’s mother, Tricia, who finished fifth at the 1995 U.S. Championships, also has the honor of seeing her daughter become the first U.S. woman to secure a Grand Prix victory without previously making a Grand Prix podium.
In her winning performance on Saturday, Ziegler landed seven triple jumps, earning the top free skate score by an American this season.
With this achievement, she now ranks second in the U.S. in the best total score this season, following national champion Isabeau Levito. Impressively, Ziegler was originally ranked sixth in the country prior to her outstanding performance at NHK, as per SkatingScores.com.
Following January’s nationals, two women will be named to the world championships team. Levito, the sole American woman to qualify for the six-skater Grand Prix Final in two weeks, is the clear favorite for one of the spots.
Ziegler separated herself from the rest of the pack in sensational fashion this weekend, alongside runner-up Thorngren. Their performance marked the first U.S. women’s one-two finish in a Grand Prix since 2016 Skate America (Ashley Wagner, Mariah Bell) and the first at a Grand Prix other than Skate America since the March 1997 Grand Prix Final (Tara Lipinski, Michelle Kwan).
Thorngren, also 17 and from New Jersey, secured her first Grand Prix podium in her fourth career Grand Prix start.
She came into NHK with a stronger resume than Ziegler, having won the 2020 U.S. junior title, clinched bronze at the 2022 Junior Worlds, and finished fifth or sixth at the last three senior nationals.
At the same event, Germans Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin captured the pairs’ title for a second consecutive week in their first two Grand Prix starts as a team.
Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson brought home Great Britain’s first Grand Prix title in any discipline, overtaking world silver medalists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy by 0.63 points in ice dance. Both duos qualified for the Grand Prix Final.
The Grand Prix Series concludes with the Grand Prix Final in two weeks, live on Peacock.
